Secret-combination lock



1. cmoLA Am) D. PoU'DoRo.

SECRET COMBINATION Lock. `APPLIGATJON FILED NOV. 1, 192|.

1,416,790l r Patented May23,1922.

gwumdoz inl fa i il it n .l

JOSEPH. CIOTOLA ANDy DQLVIINCK QOLBOO, OF PELDELPHL SEUR/ET-CMBLNATIONLOCK.

riflesse.

Specification of Letters Fstent.

lfatented lilay ,933, i922 Application filed November 7, 1921. SerialNo. 51E/3x33.

To .aZZ 107mm t may concern.'

Be it known that we, J osnrn CIoToLA and Dominici; PoLiDono, a citizenof the United States, and a subject ot the King of Italy, respectively,both residing at S05 Sears Street, Philadelphia, in the county oflthiladelphia and State oi Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improve-- ments in Secret-Combination Locks, ot which thefollowing,l is a specilication, reference being had therein to theaccompanying' drawings.

This invention relates to a secret combination lock. It is intendedprimarily for use in connection with a theft preventing,` automobilewheel lock, such as that illustrated in our (1o-pending application,Serial Number lgtll tiled on the Tth day ot Novem-A ber, 192i. However,as this description proceeds it will be seen that the loek is capable otgeneral application and is useful in any relation in which a combinationpadlock may be employed.

ln the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a iront elevation oit a lock eon structed in accordance withthe invention and with tl e tront ot the casingremoved; and

Fig. 2 is a verticalv sectional view through said lock.

liike iuinlerals designate eorrespomlinp; parts in both of the figuresoit the drawing.

ln the particular lock which we have chosen to illustrate as descriptiveot the invention, the rear wall 5 and side walls 6 are made ot a singlestamping. i fillingY block T constitutes the top wall of the lock casingand the shackle 8 moves through said fillingblock. The tree legv 8il ofthe shackle is notchedfas indicated at 9, to be engaged by a latch lwhich is mounted lor sliding movement in keepers il, said keepersprojectinn' from a bracket l2 secured to the rear wall i spring 13 bearsbetween the rear end ot the latch l0 and a stop 14 carried by the rearwall et the lock and tends to move the latch l0 into engagement with theleg 81 ot the shackle. si push rod l5 is engaged with the latch l() andits extremity l projects through the side wall ot the lock casing'. Thestructure just described duplicated at the lower part of the lock wherea latch l@ is mounted for movement toward the right to engage a notchL1T formed in the leg` 8b ot the shackle. he latch 16 moves throughkeepers i9. push rod is connected to the latch 16 and its end 2l is eX-posed outside ot the right-hand wall of the lock easing'. illspring 22bears between the lett-hand end ot the latch 1G and a stop 23 c rried bythe rear wall 5 of the lock easing. pringral enen-cles the leg 8b oitthe shackle and bears against a collar carried by said leg, said springnormally tending) to move the shackle to open position. lt is inanifestthat it by pressing` upon the exposed ends l5 and 2l of the push rods l5and 20 the latches l0 and 1G are moved inwardly the shackle will bereleased and the spring 2li will act to throw it to open position.However, it is not possible to thus move these latches inwardly untilbolts 26 and 2T which project into said latches, are withdrawn. rlhes-ebolts are connected to the opposite ends oit a rocking lever 28, thelatter beingpivoted at Q9 intermediate said bolt. A plunger 30 ispivotally connected at 3l to the lever Q8 and the lower end ot hisplunger bears upon. a lealz spring` 32. in anti-friction roller isdisposed between said leat spring and the bottom wall Sil: ot the lockcasing. The :tront wall oil? the casing is secured in place by rivets orlike fastening devices, indicated at 36 which pass through the filling;block 'T and through a second rigid filling; block 37 to the under sideol which the leaf spring;- 32 is secured at 38. rlhus the bottom walllies snugly in place between the side walls (i, the rear wall 5 and thet'ront wall but this bottom wall Sel is secured only at its right-handend. lts right-hand end is upturned, as indicated at 39 and is securedin place by a rivet l() which passes through the adjacent side wall 6.Thus the lett-hand end ot the bottom wall 34: is free to move but sincethe lower tace ot the bottom wall 3ft lies just flush with the loweredges et the iront, rear and side walls, no one would imagine from themere inspection or the lock that this lower wall is capable ot movement.But as a matter olf tac-t the lett-hand end ot the lower wall being`i'ree andV the lower wall as a whole being made ot resilient material,the operator may. by pleasing; upwardly upon the lett-hand end oi lthebottom wall Bil. force the plunger 30 upwardly and rock the lever 28upon its pivot to withdraw the bolts Q6 and 2i" from their engagementwith the latches l0 and 1G. lWhen this is done pressure upon the pushrods l5 and 2d will result in moving these latches to release theshackle and to permit said shackle to move to open position. When thepressure upon the bottom wall 34 is released, the leaf spring 32 causessaid wall to resume its former position and lie eXactly flush with thelower edges of the remaining walls of the casing. At this time thecasing appears to be an ordinary padlock casing and gives no evidencethat a part thereof is movable to effect an initial release of thecombination latches located inside of said casing.

So far as we are aware, we are the first to provide a lock wherein apart of the outside casing is movable to elfect' an initial unlocking ofthe remaining elements of the lock.

It is manifest that this idea could be carried out in many ways. Whilein the particular embodiment of the invention shown it is the bottomwall of the case that is movable, it is manifest that it would be wellwithin the skill of a mechanic to make some other part of the casemovable to effect the same result.

It is, therefore, to be understood that the invention is not limited tohaving the bottom wall the movable element of the lock casing.

The invention further contemplates the provision of certain dummyelements inanipulation of which accomplishes nothing but the presence ofwhich confuses a dishonest person who attempts to operate the lock. Tothis end we have mounted upon the front wall 35 a rotative button 4:1which has no connection with any of the elements of the lock but itspresence leads a would-be thief to conclude that the release of the lockis effected by manipulation of the button and he thus wastes time andconfuses himself in manipulating said button. At 42 we have indicated adummy push rod which slides through a stud 43 carried by the rear wall 5and is forced outwardly by spring la which bears between said stud and acollar 45 on the push rod. This push rod manipulates nothing but itspresence confuses the thief. In order to operate the lock the per sonoperating the same must know just which push rod to press upon at thetime that the bottom wall 34 is forced upwardly to release the latchesand the presence of these dummy push rods renders it possible to eifecta large number of combinations.

Having described our invention what we claim is:

l. A lock of the character described comprising a locking element, alatch for holding the same in closed position, a detent for said latchand a movable casing section connected to said detent and operating thesame to release the latch upon movement of said .casing section.

2, A lock of the character described comprising a locking element, aplurality of latches for holding said locking element in closedposition, detents engaging said latches and preventing their movementuntil withdrawn from engagement therewith and a movable casing sectionaccessible from the exterior of the lock and connected to one of saiddetents to simultaneously operate them upon movement of the casingsection to cause their withdrawal from engagement with the latches.

3. A. device of the character described comprising a casing7 a shacklemounted for movement therein, a latch engaging said shackle and holdingthe same in locked position, a detent, a bodily movable wallconstituting a part of the casing and connections between the wall andthe detent operable upon movement of said wall with respect to theremainder of the casing to withdraw said detent from engagement with thelatch to permit the operation of said latch and means accessible fromthe exterior of the casing for operating said latch.

1i. A device of the character described comprising a casing having amovable wall section, a shackle movable in said casing, spring meanstending to move said shackle to open position, a plurality of latchesengaging said shackle and holding` it in locked position, push rods forsaid latches having portions exposed outside of said casing, boltsengaging said latches and connections between said bolts and the movablewall section acting to withdraw said bolts from their engagement withthe latches upon movement of said wall section with relation to theremainder of the casing.

5. device of the character described comprising` an enclosingcasing-having one of its walls movable with respect to the remainder ofthe casing, a shackle mounted for movement in said casing, a springtending to throw said shackle to open position, a `pair of latches forengaging said `shackle for holding the same in locked position, pushrods for said latches exposed at the outside of the casing, spring meanstending to move said latches into engagement with the shackle and toproject the push rods outward y, a lever pivoted intermediate its end7bolts pivotally connected to said lever upon the opposite sides of itspivot. said bolts engaging said latches to prevent the movement of saidlatches until said bolts are withdrawn and a connection between saidlever and the movable wall through which said lever is rocked upon itspivot upon movement of said wall with respect to the remainder of thecasing to withdraw said bolts.

ln testimony whereof we hereunto affix our signatures. i

JOSEPH CGTOLA. DOMINCK POLDRG.

